The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended · Isaac Newton
CHAP. I.
When _Oenotrus_ the son of _Lycaon_ carried a Colony into _Italy_, _he_ [210] _found that country for the most part uninhabited; and where it was inhabited, peopled but thinly: and seizing a part of it, he built towns in the mountains, little and numerous_, as above: these towns were without walls; but after this Colony grew numerous, and began to want room, _they expelled the _Siculi_, compassed many cities with walls, and became possest of all the territory between the two rivers _Liris_ and _Tibre__: and it is to be understood that those cities had their Councils and _Prytanea_ after the manner of the _Greeks_: for _Dionysius_ [211] tells us, that the new Kingdom of _Rome_, as _Romulus_ left it, consisted of thirty Courts or Councils, in thirty towns, each with the sacred fire kept in the _Prytaneum_ of the Court, for the Senators who met there to perform Sacred Rites, after the manner of the _Greeks_: _but when _Numa_ the successor of _Romulus_ Reigned, he leaving the several fires in their own Courts, instituted one common to them all at _Rome__: whence _Rome_ was not a compleat city before the days of _Numa_. When navigation was so far improved that the _Phœnicians_ began to leave the sea-shore, and sail through the _Mediterranean_ by the help of the stars, it may be presumed that they began to discover the islands of the _Mediterranean_, and for the sake of trafic to sail as far as _Greece_: and this was not long before they carried away _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_, from _Argos_.
The _Cares_ first infested the _Greek_ seas with piracy, and then _Minos_ the son of _Europa_ got up a potent fleet, and sent out Colonies: for _Diodorus_ [212] tells us, that the _Cyclades_ islands, those near _Crete_, were at first desolate and uninhabited; but _Minos_ having a potent fleet, sent many Colonies out of _Crete_, and peopled many of them; and particularly that the island _Carpathus_ was first seized by the soldiers of _Minos_: _Syme_ lay waste and desolate 'till _Triops_ came thither with a Colony under _Chthonius_: _Strongyle_ or _Naxus_ was first inhabited by the _Thracians_ in the days of _Boreas_, a little before the _Argonautic_ Expedition: _Samsos_ was, at first desert, and inhabited only by a great multitude of terrible wild beasts, 'till _Macareus_ peopled it, as he did also the islands _Chius_ and _Cos_. _Lesbos_ lay waste and desolate 'till _Xanthus_ sailed thither with a Colony: _Tenedos_ lay desolate 'till _Tennes_, a little before the _Trojan_ war, sailed thither from _Troas_. _Aristæus_, who married _Autonoe_ the daughter of _Cadmus_, carried a Colony from _Thebes_ into _Cæa_, an island not inhabited before: the island _Rhodes_ was at first called _Ophiusa_, being full of serpents, before _Phorbas_, a Prince of _Argos_, went thither, and made it habitable by destroying the serpents, which was about the end of _Solomon_'s Reign; in memory of which he is delineated in the heavens in the Constellation of _Ophiuchus_.
The discovery of this and some other islands made a report that they rose out of the Sea: _in Asia Delos emersit, & Hiera, & Anaphe, & Rhodus_, saith [213] _Ammianus_: and [214] _Pliny_; _claræ jampridem insulæ, Delos & Rhodos memoriæ produntur enatæ, postea minores, ultra Melon Anaphe, inter Lemnum & Hellespontum Nea, inter Lebedum & Teon Halone_, &c. _Diodorus_ [215] tells us also, that the seven islands called _Æolides_, between _Italy_ and _Sicily_, were desert and uninhabited 'till _Lipparus_ and _Æolus_, a little before the _Trojan_ war, went thither from _Italy_, and peopled them: and that _Malta_ and _Gaulus_ or _Gaudus_ on the other side of _Sicily_, were first peopled by _Phœnicians_; and so was _Madera_ without the _Straits_: and _Homer_ writes that _Ulysses_ found the Island _Ogygia_ covered with wood, and uninhabited, except by _Calypso_ and her maids, who lived in a cave without houses; and it is not likely that _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_ could be peopled before navigation was propagated beyond the _Straits_.
The _Sicaneans_ were reputed the first inhabitants of _Sicily_, they built little Villages or Towns upon hills, and every Town had its own King; and by this means they spread over the country, before they formed themselves into larger governments with a common King: _Philistus_ [216] saith that _they were transplanted into _Sicily_ from the River _Sicanus_ in _Spain__; and _Dionysius_ [217], that _they were a _Spanish_ people who fled from the _Ligures_ in _Italy__; he means the _Ligures_ [218] who opposed _Hercules_ when he returned from his expedition against _Geryon_ in _Spain_, and endeavoured to pass the _Alps_ out of _Gaul_ into _Italy_. _Hercules_ that year got into _Italy_, and made some conquests there, and founded the city _Croton_; and [219] after winter, upon the arrival of his fleet from _Erythra_ in _Spain_, sailed to _Sicily_, and there left the _Sicani_: for _it was his custom to recruit his army with conquered people, and after they had assisted him in making new conquests to reward them with new seats_: this was the _Egyptian Hercules_, who had a potent fleet, and in the days of _Solomon_ sailed to the _Straits_, and according to his custom set up pillars there, and conquered _Geryon_, and returned back by _Italy_ and _Sicily_ to _Egypt_, and was by the ancient _Gauls_ called _Ogmius_, and by _Egyptians_ [220] _Nilus_: for _Erythra_ and the country of _Geryon_ were without the _Straits_. _Dionysius_ [221] represents this _Hercules_ contemporary to _Evander_.
The first inhabitants of _Crete_, according to _Diodorus_ [222] were called _Eteocretans_; but whence they were, and how they came thither, is not said in history: then sailed thither a Colony of _Pelasgians_ from _Greece_; and soon after _Teutamus_, the grandfather of _Minos_, carried thither a Colony of _Dorians_ from _Laconia_, and from the territory of _Olympia_ in _Peloponnesus_: and these several Colonies spake several languages, and fed on the spontaeous fruits of the earth, and lived quietly in caves and huts, 'till the invention of iron tools, in the days of _Asterius_ the son of _Teutamus_; and at length were reduced into one Kingdom, and one People, by _Minos_, who was their first law-giver, and built many towns and ships, and introduced plowing and sowing, and in whose days the _Curetes_ conquered his father's friends in _Crete_ and _Peloponnesus_. The _Curetes_ [223] sacrificed children to _Saturn_ and according to _Bochart_ [224] were _Philistims_; and _Eusebius_ faith that _Crete_ had its name from _Cres_, one of the _Curetes_ who nursed up _Jupiter_: but whatever was the original of the island, it seems to have been peopled by Colonies which spake different languages, 'till the days of _Asterius_ and _Minos_; and might come thither two or three Generations before, and not above, for want of navigation in those seas.
The island _Cyprus_ was discovered by the _Phœnicians_ not long before; for _Eratosthenes_ [225] tells us, _that _Cyprus_ was at first so overgrown with wood that it could not be tilled, and that they first cut down the wood for the melting of copper and silver, and afterwards when they began to sail safely upon the _Mediterranean__, that is, presently after the _Trojan_ war, _they built ships and even navies of it: and when they could not thus destroy the wood, they gave every man leave to cut down what wood he pleased, and to possess all the ground which he cleared of wood_. So also _Europe_ at first abounded very much with woods, one of which, called the _Hercinian_, took up a great part of _Germany_, being full nine days journey broad, and above forty long, in _Julius Cæsar_'s days: and yet the _Europeans_ had been cutting down their woods, to make room for mankind, ever since the invention of iron tools, in the days of _Asterius_ and _Minos_.
All these footsteps there are of the first peopling of _Europe_, and its Islands, by sea; before those days it seems to have been thinly peopled from the northern coast of the _Euxine-sea_ by _Scythians_ descended from _Japhet_, who wandered without houses, and sheltered themselves from rain and wild beasts in thickets and caves of the earth; such as were the caves in mount _Ida_ in _Crete_, in which _Minos_ was educated and buried; the cave of _Cacus_, and the _Catacombs_ in _Italy_ near _Rome_ and _Naples_, afterwards turned into burying-places; the _Syringes_ and many other caves in the sides of the mountains of _Egypt_; the caves of the _Troglodites_ between _Egypt_ and the _Red Sea_, and those of the _Phaurusii_ in _Afric_, mentioned by [226] _Strabo_; and the caves, and thickets, and rocks, and high places, and pits, in which the _Israelites_ hid themselves from the _Philistims_ in the days of _Saul_, 1 _Sam._ xiii. 6. But of the state of mankind in _Europe_ in those days there is now no history remaining.
The antiquities of _Libya_ were not much older than those of _Europe_; for _Diodorus_ [227] tells us, that _Uranus_ the father of _Hyperion_, and grandfather of _Helius_ and _Selene_, that is _Ammon_ the father of _Sesac_, _was their first common King, and caused the people, who 'till then wandered up and down, to dwell in towns_: and _Herodotus_ [228] tells us, that all _Media_ was peopled by δημοι, towns without walls, 'till they revolted from the _Assyrians_, which was about 267 years after the death of _Solomon_: and that after that revolt they set up a King over them, and built _Ecbatane_ with walls for his seat, the first town which they walled about; and about 72 years after the death of _Solomon_, _Benhadad_ King of _Syria_ [229] had two and thirty Kings in his army against _Ahab_: and when _Joshuah_ conquered the land of _Canaan_, every city of the _Canaanites_ had its own King, like the cities of _Europe_, before they conquered one another; and one of those Kings, _Adonibezek_, the King of _Bezek_ had conquered seventy other Kings a little before, _Judg._ i. 7. and therefore towns began to be built in that land not many ages before the days of _Joshuah_: for the Patriarchs wandred there in tents, and fed their flocks where-ever they pleased, the fields of _Phœnicia_ not being yet fully appropriated, for want of people. The countries first inhabited by mankind, were in those days so thinly peopled, that [230] four Kings from the coasts of _Shinar_ and _Elam_ invaded and spoiled the _Rephaims_, and the inhabitants of the countries of _Moab_, _Ammon_, _Edom_, and the Kingdoms of _Sodom_, _Gomorrah_, _Admah_ and _Zeboim_; and yet were pursued and beaten by _Abraham_ with an armed force of only 318 men, the whole force which _Abraham_ and the princes with him could raise: and _Egypt_ was so thinly peopled before the birth of _Moses_, that _Pharaoh_ said of the _Israelites_; [231] _behold the people of the children of _Israel_ are more and mightier than we_: and to prevent their multiplying and growing too strong, he caused their male children to be drowned.
These footsteps there are of the first peopling of the earth by mankind, not long before the days of _Abraham_; and of the overspreading it with villages, towns and cities, and their growing into Kingdoms, first Smaller and then greater, until the rise of the Monarchies of _Egypt_, _Assyria_, _Babylon_, _Media_, _Persia_, _Greece_, and _Rome_, the first great Empires on this side _India_. _Abraham_ was the fifth from _Peleg_, and all mankind lived together in _Chaldea_ under the Government of _Noah_ and his sons, untill the days of _Peleg_: so long they were of one language, one society, and one religion: and then they divided the earth, being perhaps, disturbed by the rebellion of _Nimrod_, and forced to leave off building the tower of _Babel_: and from thence they spread themselves into the several countries which fell to their shares, carrying along with them the laws, customs and religion, under which they had 'till those days been educated and governed, by _Noah_, and his sons and grandsons: and these laws were handed down to _Abraham_, _Melchizedek_, and _Job_, and their contemporaries, and for some time were observed by the judges of the eastern countries: so _Job_ [232] tells us, that adultery was _an heinous crime, yea an iniquity to be punished by the judges_: and of idolatry he [233] saith, _If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly inticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above_: and there being no dispute between _Job_ and his friends about these matters, it may be presumed that they also with their countrymen were of the same religion. _Melchizedek_ was a Priest of the most high God, and _Abraham_ voluntarily paid tythes to him; which he would scarce have done had they not been of one and the same religion.
The first inhabitants of the land of _Canaan_ seem also to have been originally of the same religion, and to have continued in it 'till the death of _Noah_, and the days of _Abraham_; for _Jerusalem_ was anciently [234] called _Jebus_, and its people _Jebusites_, and _Melchizedek_ was their Priest and King: these nations revolted therefore after the days of _Melchizedek_ to the worship of false Gods; as did also the posterity of _Ismael_, _Esau_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and that of _Abraham_ by _Keturah_: and the _Israelites_ themselves were very apt to revolt: and one reason why _Terah_ went from _Ur_ of the _Chaldees_ to _Haran_ in his way to the land of _Canaan_; and why _Abraham_ afterward left _Haran_, and went into the land of _Canaan_, might be to avoid the worship of false Gods, which in their days began in _Chaldea_, and spread every way from thence; but did not yet reach into the land of _Canaan_. Several of the laws and precepts in which this primitive religion consisted are mentioned in the book of _Job_, chap. i. ver. 5, and chap, xxxi, _viz._ _not to blaspheme God, nor to worship the Sun or Moon, nor to kill, nor steal, nor to commit adultery, nor trust in riches, nor oppress the poor or fatherless, nor curse your enemies, nor rejoyce at their misfortunes: but to be friendly, and hospitable and merciful, and to relieve the poor and needy, and to set up Judges_.
This was the morality and religion of the first ages, still called by the _Jews_, _The precepts of the sons of _Noah__: this was the religion of _Moses_ and the Prophets, comprehended in the two great commandments, of _loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind, and our neighbour as our selves_: this was the religion enjoyned by _Moses_ to the uncircumcised stranger within the gates of _Israel_, as well as to the _Israelites_: and this is the primitive religion of both _Jews_ and _Christians_, and ought to be the standing religion of all nations, it being for the honour of God, and good of mankind: and _Moses_ adds the precept of _being merciful even to brute beasts, so as not to suck out their blood, nor to cut off their flesh alive with the blood in it, nor to kill them for the sake of their blood, nor to strangle them; but in killing them for food, to let out their blood and spill it upon the ground_, _Gen._ ix. 4, and _Levit_. xvii.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.